


We met on a lonely pier

by Nita_Shinori



Category: Readyyy! Project (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn, also considering canon this turns out to be more of an au than i thought, kinda - they're not gonna hold hands next chapter that's for sure, mermaid au, mermaid komugi, more tags will be added in the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2019-10-21 13:57:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17644124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nita_Shinori/pseuds/Nita_Shinori
Summary: Summer break can bring many things in your life, but Riku did not expect to not only meet but also fall in love with a cute mermaid boy.





	1. The first meeting

**Author's Note:**

> first fic on ao3 let's go  
> this is actually inspired by ciervo's (ciervo_dormido on twitter) mermaid au mitsuhiro  
> Little warning: i started writing chapter 1 in January, when i had nothing but the wikia and twitter translations, and i haven't played the game yet, so please forgive me if any character feels ooc >< hope you have fun reading!

The start of summer break was always a pain in the neck from temperature perspective. It being the middle of July, it wasn't exactly pleasant to exit the school building after getting used to air conditioning and be greeted with a gust of hot air. Despite the fact it's been a thing since June, Riku Orikasa still wasn't quite used to differences in the air. But he was glad he didn't have to go back to school for at least next month. All these people and all the collective, inescapable noise they made sometimes was great enough to cause Riku intense nausea, and frankly, he was glad he could get some peace now.

Riku's phone buzzed with the new text signal. It was from his mom.

_> Hey, I'm sorry to text you when you're still at school, but I won't be home until very late _ _😢_ _Dinner's in the fridge so just heat it up_ _😃_ _Let me know when you're out!_ _❤❤❤_

Ever since his mom learned how to use emoticons, a lot of her texts were like this. But they didn't feel embarrassing to read, despite everything. Riku's eyes lit up - this meant he had more time to spend in his special place. Where he wanted to go immediately, but his stomach reminded him of its existence, and also of the fact his lunch was long gone. A bit reluctantly, he started heading home.

_< Actually I just finished school and I'm going home now_

_> 😃_

_> You're starting summer break today, aren't you?_

_< Yeah_

_< I'm planning to go to that place I told you about, so if I'm not back until evening, that's where I am_

_> You'll probably be sleeping when I get back 😔 But thanks for telling me! 😊_

\-----------

After eating dinner, which was surprisingly curry, Riku headed where he wanted to go all day. It was quite a trek from home, but the road there was fairly straightforward, so after about forty minutes he was nearly there.

His special place.

It was an old fishing pier, standing near a small beach, which had a rock formation guarding it from a side, and didn't seem to be visited often. The pier's dock went pretty far, ending above the deep water, and the planks were quite strong. It also had a thin, but sturdy wooden bar halfway between the dock and the water (for easier climbing? Riku wasn't sure). Despite being abandoned, the pier was in really good condition.

Riku wouldn't even know about this place if it wasn't for a third year named Tatsuma Akashi, nicknamed the big brother of the basketball team. He approached Riku one day, saying he was worried because Riku always spends time alone. Since then, they've been spending a lot of time together, which eventually led to Akashi showing Riku the pier, saying he came there everytime he needed unwinding and that Riku can come there too if he wanted. And Riku decided to come here every day, if possible.

How Riku became such good acquaintances, perhaps even friends with Akashi, was a mystery. But he was grateful for someone relatively quiet, even if Akashi sometimes seemed to treat him like a child.

Riku walked down the dock, sat down, setting his bag beside him, and closed his eyes. He let the moment envelop his being - the sound of waves in his ears, the salty breeze in his nose and mouth, occasional droplets on his knees, and the warmth of the summer sunset on all of his body. His current worries of the day, however minuscule, have toned down a bit. Riku was sitting like this for a while, quite effectively ignoring his surroundings and also passing time.

It started to get colder, so Riku looked up at the sky; the first stars started showing up. He must have been meditating like this for a few hours. He grabbed his bag and started heading back home.

As Riku was walking up the beach, a pair of curious eyes followed him from near the pier, just above the water.

* * *

The pier and the beach remained in their usual state this day as well. Riku brought some of his summer homework; not that he actually cared that much about grades, it was just better to have it out of the picture sooner than later. It was just physics, so he expected to be done with it quickly and then have enough time to do what he came here to do, which was meditating in the sun and maybe going for a swim. And just to be safe from the sun, he picked a short-sleeved hooded shirt. He was sitting with his textbook and notebook for quite a long time, writing in silence, occasionally making drawings in the air to help himself with a problem. After a while, however, the air started feeling too good to be just background for physics homework, so Riku put it back into his bag.

He stretched his back and leaned backwards, facing the sky. There was almost no clouds, and it was incredibly hot. Just like the day before, Riku closed his eyes and spaced out for a long moment.

A boyish voice woke him up from his trance.

"Hello?", Riku asked in response.

There was no one on the beach, but the voice definitely came from nearby.

"Over here!", the voice called from below, slightly to the right.

Riku looked down from the pier, and found the source of the voice. It was indeed a boy, peeking from chest up right in front offers the dock. But...

"Are you okay? You spaced out in the sun, so I thought I should call out to you before you got a stroke or something...", the boy said with a worried face.

Riku indeed felt dizzy when he looked down. He quickly put on the hood of his shirt, which must have fallen off somehow. For a complete stranger, that boy was genuinely concerned about his safety. But that wasn't what Riku found most strange about this peculiar individual.

First off, the boy had a bowl cut ( _Who wears bowl cuts these days...?_ ), dark green in the sunlight, with bangs ending just above his eyelids. Second, he was seemingly wearing a strange headpiece that made his ears look like small fins. Third, he had some strange, glittering, light green scale-like things on his shoulders. Was he trying to dress like a sea creature or something?

"Are you feeling better?", the strange boy pulled himself up a bit by the bar to get a better view on Riku, and Riku followed suit.

"I think, yeah."

"Okay, that's good", the boy sighed with relief. Riku now also noticed his big brown eyes filled with curiosity. "Do you often sit in the sun like this?"

"No. Do you often talk to strangers like this?"

"Nope."

There was an uncomfortably long moment of silence.

"... Nice headpiece."

"Hm?", the boy tilted his head.

"Those things on your ears", Riku gestured to his own ears. "They look neat."

"But those _are_ my ears, though."

Riku blinked.

"Pardon?"

"Yeah, these are my ears! And I'm a mermaid!", the boy said cheerfully. "Well, technically a mer _boy_ , but you know what I mean, right?"

Riku was staring at him dumbfounded. A mermaid? Did he expect Riku to believe that? He didn't sound like he was lying, though, but if that really was true, then...

"Wait, are you serious? You're not messing with me, are you?"

"Why would I? You seem nice. Here, let me show you!", the boy gripped the bar tightly, and pulled a part of his tail (light green just like the scales on his shoulders) out of the water, and immediately plopped it back. "See?"

Riku looked around, just in case someone saw them, but luckily no one else was there.

"Is this for real?", Riku almost whispered to the boy.

"Yep! It is!"

This was insane. Was this guy nuts? Did he not care about the fact he just told a complete stranger something that should be an extremely guarded secret? About the fact he just revealed that he's of different species? Riku felt like his head was spinning.

"Why did you do that? Aren't you scared?"

"I don't know", the boy shrugged. "I should be, but I'm not. Not of you, anyway."

_Excuse me?_ , Riku did not understand. He wanted to ask why, but he heard a text message alert.

"What's that?"

"My mom", Riku put the phone back into his pocket. "I should go, I stayed here for longer than I promised."

"I see...", the merboy looked sad. "Will you come back here tomorrow?"

Riku nodded, causing the other to smile.

"What's your name? Talking to you was so nice that I forgot to ask..."

_Was it?_ "I was wondering if you would.", Riku stood up. "I'm Riku Orikasa. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Riku!", the boy's face brightened like the sun. "I'm Komugi!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was fun to read! Let me know what you think!
> 
> Fun fact: i based Riku's mom's texting on my own mom


	2. The next day

If someone told Riku during the school year that his summer break would make him acquainted with a very enthusiastic mermaid boy, he would assume he was being made fun of. He still couldn't believe this happened. He also couldn't believe he was looking forward to seeing the boy again, but something was pulling him towards the lonely pier where they met. That pier was supposed to be a place where he would take a break from people, and yet he didn't mind it being a meeting place.

Perhaps the key factor in his excitement about this whole situation was the fact that the boy he met yesterday was, in fact, of the merfolk kind.

_ Komugi, was it? I hope I remembered right. _

Riku started to get ready to leave; since his mom left for work early, he had pretty much an entire day before she got back. Which made Riku kind of happy.

It was still rather early in the day, so it wasn't very hot yet. This time he prepared a hat to take with him, a purple baseball cap, and also a bottle of water. He didn't want to be at mercy of a mermaid guy who might not even actually come back to the pier again; even though he asked Riku if he'll be back, Riku wasn't sure if the merboy- if Komugi was going to be there himself, today or ever again, and Riku got excited for nothing. Riku's throat started to tighten slightly at the thought, a sign of his anxiety acting up. His stomach rumbled a little as well, so he quickly fixed himself some small breakfast and finally got out of the house.

It was quite a trek from home to the pier, but he eventually got there. As expected, no one else was around. Just in case (and unsure why), Riku tried to walk as quietly on the bridge as possible. If Komugi was there, he would surely hear him. He got to the end and so far there was no sight of the merboy. Did he get there too early? Did he seem desperate by coming here so quickly? Riku's throat tightened a bit again. He set his shoes and bag next to him and laid down.

It wasn't long until Riku heard a quiet splashes from somewhere below his feet, as if something got out of the water. He sat down, quiet on instinct, and carefully inched closer to the pier's edge, kind of hoping to see his mermaid acquaintance. Riku peeked down, and much to his relief there was Komugi's seaweed green head. 

"Komugi?"

The merboy looked up. His face beamed upon seeing Riku.

"Waa~, you came back!", he said with a smile that could cure illnesses. "And you have a hat!"

"I did tell you I'd be back", Riku adjusted himself and set his shoes closer to him.  _ Thanks for noticing the hat. _

Komugi's ear... fins wiggled slightly.

"Hey, since we're both here, what would you like to do?"

_ Dammit.  _ "I wasn't really thinking of anything in particular, sorry."

"Ah", Komugi grabbed the wooden beam and pulled himself up a bit. "Then maybe we just hang out, like yesterday?"

Riku caught a glimpse of something light green coming from Komugi's back, which Riku assumed was his back fin.

"... sure, why not."

They talked about various things for the next hour or two. Riku was mostly sating Komugi's seemingly boundless curiosity about everyday human life, but eventually he managed to get something out of the other; Komugi actually had a family somewhere in the depths, tending to a kelp forest and that they haven't been to the surface much, save for Komugi - perhaps that was why the merboy was so especially curious about surface plants, and why he listened so intently despite Riku affirming that he doesn't know much about the subject. 

Among all this, the boys also found out from all of this that they both like to sing as a hobby.

"Oh, oh! Let's have a singout, Riku!"

"S-sorry, but not now", Riku was incredibly flustered at the thought. "Different day, maybe."

"Awww…", Komugi sank half of his face in the water, visibly disappointed. He quickly got up, with determination on his face. "Then when you're ready, you have to tell me!"

"Wha-"

"I want to hear your singing someday, Riku." Komugi's gaze got weirdly intense. "Please, let me hear it when you're ready, and let me sing with you."

If Riku's face wasn't red from the summer heat, it definitely was from hearing that - not just the words but also the tone, and the intense staring. But the eyes and the voice… They only knew each other for a day, but Riku felt this wasn't a normal state for Komugi. He had to turn away for a moment to collect himself, and when he looked back…

Komugi showed a mix of fear and shame.

"Oh no, oh no, oh, I'm so sorry, I scared you, didn't I?", his eyes got teary. "I'm sorry, I did that again, I-"

"No, no, wait, it's okay", Riku semiconciously laid down on his stomach and reached his hand out, seeing that Komugi was about to swim away. "It's okay, I'm not mad at you, it's okay!"

He heard a quiet " _ really? _ ". "Yes, really, it's okay."

Riku felt he wasn't really thinking at the moment, especially considering he normally wouldn't be so desperate to keep a conversation partner around, but he didn't want to risk never seeing this guy again just because he got flustered at the tone which guys at school sometimes used to talk to girls.

_ Wait, what, it didn't sound like that at all _

He also felt that it got pretty hot on his back. Was it really noon, or past noon already?

"Anyway", now that Komugi deciced to stick around after all, Riku did his best to continue the conversation, "what was that? Your voice sounded both intense and hollow and right in my head at the same time. How did you do it?"

The roles from earlier got reversed, now Riku was very curious and Komugi was very flustered, even starting to hide underwater again.

"That's-"

"I never heard anyone do that with their voice before, so I'm curious."

"But-"

"I answered way more of your questions than you did mine, I think it's only fair for me to ask that."

A whine, and then a sigh came from below.

"I'll tell you, but promise to not be scared or anything."

_ Weird request, but okay.  _ "Okay, I promise."

Komugi didn't look up, but he raised his head enough for Riku to see his painfully sad expression.

"I think it's because of the moon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm so sorry it took so long, I really can't believe the Readyyy game managed to live its life between chapters, and I'm sad as well, it didn't deserve this
> 
> Second, the reason it took so long was because i got hit with a massive writing block and only got to finish the chapter a few days ago on my vacation in Egypt
> 
> Third, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm already writing the third one, but who knows when that comes out haha ^^'


End file.
